There are plenty of brilliant blog posts out there with general promotion tips for promoting an infographic. However, I want to highlight some really simple tricks which can be done very quickly to improve your outreach efforts. As with any content creation, taking the time to get all the little things right can dramatically improve your return on investment.
1. Outreach Before You Publish
Starting your outreach before you publish your graphic can really pay off; you can get great results, gain high profile site coverage and build relationships. It is particularly useful to outreach early to big sites such as Forbes and Mashable. Here's why:
High profile sites are not in the position to just drop everything to get your blog post up. Through early contact, you can plan your outreach more effectively.
It takes time for bloggers and reporters to write a story. By giving them a few days lead time, they can digest your graphic and build a great blog post about it.
It is a smart move to involve bloggers or reporters in the process of producing the infographic, as you can both benefit. You are more likely to gain coverage from their particular site, and they will feel part of the process, and have content that they actually want. If they help out significantly with the process, such as providing some research, you can credit them in the infographic. This helps to foster long term relationships. Win win!
2. Provide Research To Outreach Partners
Poor research means a bad infographic. Understandably, there has been a backlash against bad quality infographics. Spend as much time researching infographics as you do designing, using high quality data and sources.
Provide this research to potential bloggers/reporters so they can easily write their story, pulling links and quotes as needed. Set up a password protected page that they can access to view the research, source links, and the graphic itself. If you can make the bloggers life easier then you're more likely to get the link.
3. Be Sure To Hit Up Source Links
Pak Hou Cheung from Quaturo recommended hitting up the contacts behind the sources you used for your graphic. This way, you can say thanks and inform them that you have included them in your graphic. This is a great way to build relationships.
If you use a lot of research from one website or expert, why not include a logo or even a photo of the person in the graphic. People love to see their name in lights!
4. Google Image Trick
Google image drag and drop function is a great resource. It is most known for its ability to find sites which have featured your graphic without a link. I have found another great way to use it; to help you find potential outreach targets for your infographic.
- By dropping in similar graphics to the one you are creating, you can find:
- Sites that actually link to graphics
- Bloggers that like similar infographics to yours in content and style
- You save time building quality contacts.
5. Guest Posting And Advertising Partners
Why not send over the infographic with a small guest post? This was you can increase exposure via an alternative channel. This is a particularly effective way when you have already built up a trusting relationship through offering guest posts for blogger in the past.
Likewise, hit up all current and old online relationships. You may have links with sites where you have run advertisements. By having already established a connection, chances are you will more likely get your infographic posted on their site.
Remember that guest posting sites will often require a little blog post. Make sure you have a writer available to put together a blog post during the outreach period.
6. Rapportive And Twitter Follow Up
Rapportive helps you to build a bigger picture of your email contacts. It is an app that sits inside Gmail that quickly pulls up your contacts social media details. This can be a brilliant tool to use when promoting infographics. If you have an email address for a potential outreach contact, you can find their social media details, and:
- Use their twitter details to write a more personalized email to them
- Easily see they type of content they are tweeting and get an indication of which part of the infographic they might enjoy.
- Follow these people on twitter so you can build a relationship in future.
- Build relationships and outreach without leaving your inbox.
I hope that these 6 simple tips help to improve your next infographic push. I'd love to hear your own tips, so please leave your responses in the comments section below.
If you liked this post, you might also enjoy 3 Ways to Re-Package An Infographic For More Exposure
